Neuroinflammation is required for tissue clearance and repair after infections or insults. To prevent excessive damage, it is crucial to limit the extent of neuroinflammation and thereby the activation of its principal effector cell, microglia. The two main major innate immune cell types in the CNS are astrocytes and microglia. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been implicated in regulating the innate inflammatory response, and here we addressed their role in pure astrocyte and microglia cultures. Endogenous HDAC expression levels were determined in microglia and astrocytes and after treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or LPS and interferon γ (IFNγ). The relative expression level of HDACs was reduced in LPS- or LPS/IFNγ (with the exception of HDAC1 and -7)-stimulated astrocytes and increased in microglia after LPS treatment both in primary cultures and in microglia acutely isolated from LPS-treated mice, so we focused on the inflammatory response in microglia. Primary microglia cultures were treated with LPS in the presence or absence of HDAC inhibitors (HDACi). Expression and release of inflammatory cytokines was determined by quantitative RT-PCR, flow cytometry, and ELISA. HDACi strongly suppressed LPS-induced cytokine expression and release by microglia. Furthermore, expression of M1- and M2-associated activation markers was suppressed, and the migratory behavior of microglia was attenuated. Our findings strongly suggest that HDACi suppress innate immune activation in microglia.

New developments in stem cell biology offer alternatives for the reconstruction of critical-sized bone defects. One of these developments is the use of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. These stem cells are similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells, but can be generated from adult somatic cells and therefore do not raise ethical concerns. Proper characterization of iPS-derived osteoblasts is important for future development of safe clinical applications of these cells. For this reason, we differentiated mouse ES and iPS cells toward osteoblasts using osteogenic medium and compared their functionality. Immunocytochemical analysis showed significant expression of bone markers (osteocalcin and collagen type I) in osteoblasts differentiated from ES and iPS cells on days 7 and 30. An in vitro mineralization assay confirmed the functionality of osteogenically differentiated ES and iPS cells. Gene expression arrays focusing on osteogenic differentiation were performed in order to compare the gene expression pattern in both differentiated and undifferentiated ES cells and iPS cells. We observed a significant upregulation of osteogenesis-related genes such as Runx2, osteopontin, collagen type I, Tnfsf11, Csf1, and alkaline phosphatase upon osteogenic differentiation of the ES and iPS cells. We further validated the expression of key osteogenic genes Runx2, osteopontin, osteocalcin, collagen type I, and osterix in both differentiated and undifferentiated ES and iPS cells by means of quantified real-time polymerase chain reaction. We conclude that ES and iPS cells are similar in their osteogenic differentiation capacities, as well as in their gene expression patterns.

Background and Purpose Induction of cellular migration is the primary effect of chemokine receptor activation. However, several chemokine receptor‐like proteins bind chemokines without subsequent induction of intracellular signalling and chemotaxis. It has been suggested that they act as chemokine scavengers, which may control local chemokine levels and contribute to the function of chemokines during inflammation. This has been verified for the chemokine‐like receptor proteins D6 and DARC as well as CCX‐CKR. Here, we provide evidence for an additional biological function of human (h)CCX‐CKR. Experimental Approach We used transfection strategies in HEK293 and human T cells. Key Results Co‐expression of hCCX‐CKR completely inhibits hCXCR3‐induced chemotaxis. We found that hCCX‐CKR forms complexes with hCXCR3, suggesting a relationship between CCX‐CKR heteromerization and inhibition of chemotaxis. Moreover, negative binding cooperativity induced by ligands both for hCXCR3 and hCCX‐CKR was observed in cells expressing both receptors. This negative cooperativity may also explain the hCCX‐CKR‐induced inhibition of chemotaxis. Conclusions and Implications These findings suggest that hCCX‐CKR prevents hCXCR3‐induced chemotaxis by heteromerization thus representing a novel mechanism of regulation of immune cell migration.